Can Freelancers Return to Salaried Work?

Recently, Logan Strain wrote at Freelance Switch about the four reasons he doesn’t want to be a freelancer anymore. It’s probably true that most people are not born to be a freelancer — many just fall into this career and are happy with it. Others find it’s not for them, despite what they thought. But can you go back to salaried work?

Vangelis Bibakis of Mainframe.gr offers some great freelancing tips in an unnumbered article dating back to December 2006. However, there’s one point I can’t agree with, from hard experience. It’s in the one titled “Be ready to fail” (numbered with “θ“, theta.) and it says, “If by any chance you see things looking black, don’t despair. You can always switch back to a ‘proper’ job at anytime.”

Is this true? I’m not sure you can always switch back to a “proper job” at anytime, if you decide that freelancing is not for you. It’s not always that easy. Here are some of the things you have stacked up against you:

1. Credibility.
   Will prospective employers believe you want to be salaried again? Just try explaining what you were doing for the last X months, and the interviewer might think you’re seeking the full-time job just to pass time until more contracts come by. There’s sometimes a bias against freelancers in the salaried world. It depends on how long you’ve taken “off”, and might vary by country or even region. (There was a time that people believed that freelancers simply didn’t get along with others.)
2. Jealousy.
   Watch out for some of those people who think they want to be freelancers but were afraid to take the step. They can and will make your return to salaried work miserable if they know what you were doing — even if you’re not doing it anymore.
3. Loss of freedom.
   I recall a short story based on an old tale about a bird and its injured wing. Even after being nursed back to health, the bird’s wing was lame and it could not fly. Being unable to fly, to “touch the sky” again, the bird had no will to live. Flight meant freedom. Now, it’s not that drastic. We’re only talking freelancing, but isn’t “freedom” one of the biggest reasons you wanted to freelance? Can you give up that freedom and go back to salaried work that might not afford you the same freedoms?
4. Niche markets.
   I live in a small city. Its main industries are automotive, university/education and more recently, government labs. Aside from being a teaching assistant at the university and a few odd jobs, I have never been able to find work here for my primary skillsets. I’ve always had to commute to Toronto (which is stressful) or live there (which is expensive). My current skillset is better suited to a global market — best reached online — and seems best utilized in a freelance atmosphere. You, too, might be in a situation where it’s difficult to get offline full-time work suitable to your skills — without having to compromise.

Which, if any, of these issues affects you depends possibly on where you live, and why you became a freelancer in the first place, as well as how good you are at avoiding office politics.

What To Do If You Must Go Back

Sometimes you have to go back — though the move may only be a temporary one. Maybe you leaped into freelancing too early, or before you were adequately prepared. Usually the reasons for the retreat are financial. To make the process easier, and to keep you thinking positive, here are some general tips:

1. Make the best of it.
   Do not be in a mindset that you have failed. You’ve merely tried something different. A “failed” mindset will be projected while you’re in interviews, and more so when you are working. Remember: you can always try again later on. Freelancing will always be there.
2. Have a plan.
   If you have to explain your move to an interviewer who presses for details, you might say that you took some personal/family time off, and that the freelance work kept the bills paid. I don’t condone lying, but if you have to, say that you took a personal vacation, or time off to explore some personal projects. (Unless you’ve been working online and it’s easy for them to track your work and prove your lie.) Obviously, some people are more understanding than others. You’ll have to gauge that while you’re in the interview.
3. Kept it to yourself.
   If you get hired, don’t tell your new colleagues that you were FWI - Freelancing With Intent (to stay that way). This is important to your transition back to happy salaried employee. Some non-freelancers want to believe that freelancers always have it better, and this generates jealousy and resentment. This usually only happens with people who’ve considered freelancing but never took the step forward. These people will often make your life miserable. Listen to what they are saying, but don’t reveal too much of what you did.
4. Know what you really want and why.
   If you start getting the freelance itch again, you’ll need to have a heart-to-heart with yourself about why that is. Otherwise, the desire will distract you, you’ll resent your new job and possibly do sloppy work.(When I was younger, I never made a distinction between freelance and salaried work. I fell into freelancing, but alternated with salaried work, simply because I had some great opportunities. On my resume, though, it looked like I was all over the place. In fact, many interviewers said, “You never seem to stay in one place very long.” That’s when I realized that I was really a freelancer. I’ve gone hungry a lot as a result — once for four straight years, when I couldn’t find work and had to be an overworked, underpaid, untipped cook and dishwasher, too tired and poor to eat properly. Still, ultimately I’m happier as a freelancer. Only a really great opportunity would pull me back, and that does not necessarily have to do with the salary.

Final Thoughts

Whether you’re planning to get into freelancing for the first time or returning for the Nth time, be absolutely sure why you are. Otherwise, it might get progressively harder to explain to prospective employers why your resume has so much short-term work (or gaps, if you’re leaving out details). There might not be much in the way of “secure” offline careers anymore, but that doesn’t mean employers have gotten out of the mindset that they want someone who can commit to their job. Clients, on the other hand, will expect you to have that varied experience.

That said, there are companies that welcome people with freelance experience, who have gained multiple perspectives in an industry or niche. Or maybe you just haven’t figured out which type of freelancer you are yet. May fortune smile upon you whatever you decide.

source: FreelanceSwitch.com